Thursday, October 31, 2019

Why Series, Part 4: Why Lutheran

Pastor Rob continues with the fourth in a five week series on the some of the biggest "Why" questions in Christian faith.  

Why Lutheran?  Just like there lots of flavors of Ice Cream, there are lots of "flavors" of Christian churches.  Given all of these "options", why go for the whole "Lutheran" thing.  Pastor Rob's answer:  Because we all need spaces of grace!

Unpacked a bit more -- we all hunger to be accepted in an incredibly judgmental world.  Pastor Rob offers that the only way to finally get rid of judgement is not through ignoring or trivializing sin, but rather giving it to Jesus Christ.

A reflection on Luke 18 and the power of a community of confessing our sins.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Why Series, Part 3: The Church

October 20, 2019
Season of Pentecost

Pastor Rob continues with the third in a five week series on the some of the biggest "Why" questions in Christian faith.  

Why the church?  Given all of the crazy and brutal history of organized religion, why the church?  Pastor Rob's short answer:  Because we can't do it alone!  Just like the world marathon record was broken by an amazing team, we are called into the race of faith with others.

A reflection on Isaiah 2 and the power of a community of faith.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Why Series, Part 2: Why the Bible

October 13, 2019
Season of Pentecost

Pastor Rob continues with the second in a five week series on the some of the biggest "Why" questions in Christian faith. 

Reflecting on the healing of Naaman (
2 Kings 5), Pastor Rob looks at the question of "Why" the Bible.  Acknowledging the incredible cultural gap between the world of the Bible and our own, Pastor Rob reflects on how can still discover real people with real problems in the Bible; they in turn encounter a real God with real love and real power.  In our life and world with real problems, we can learn from Scripture how we encounter the love and power of God. 

The conclusion of the sermon is a reflection on the core problem in the Bible story: The division between two tribes of people.  We still struggle with this problem today.  Pastor Rob proclaims how God challenges, inspires and ultimately deals with the tribal instinct of humans.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Why Series, Part 1: Why Jesus?

October 6, 2019
Season of Pentecost

Pastor Rob launches a five week series on the some of the biggest "Why" questions in Christian faith.  We started on Sunday with "Why Jesus?"  Reflecting on John 6 and Acts 16, we look at how God's love for the world in poured out in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.  We then looked at some current events, both Brandt Jean's forgiveness of his brother's killer and his mothers' words of challenge and lament, to consider how the cross and resurrection show up in our world today.

Hardness of Heart

September 29, 2019
Season of Pentecost

The story of the rich man and Lazarus (from Luke 16) is perhaps one of Jesus most haunting parables.  It paints a vivid picture of what hardness of heart looks like...and intends to scare of us of its consequences.   Pastor Rob reflects on how our hearts can grow hard and what God intends to do about this problem.  Unfortunately, it is not as easy problem to fix!